Transdermal drug patches offer the advantages of ease of use, painlessness, disposability, control of drug delivery and avoidance of first-pass metabolism by the liver. Advances in synthetic materials and patch design have led to patches that are more esthetically acceptable and that are capable of delivering sustained dosing of active compounds for several days in a smaller package. Growth in demand for drug patches is being driven by several factors – factors with strong demographic and population trend underpinnings. Further improvements to transdermal transport and the introduction of new patch designs will keep this segment expanding through 2018.